Sparks live in Norwich & London - December 1997

Russell in London, December 6th

It took a while, but the fans on the British isles were (once again) given a special treatment by the Mael brothers. As announced in the previous Fan Mael, Ron, Russell and new percussionist Tamera gave two live performances in Norwich and London, on December 3rd and 6th respectively. Stef and I were there to witness the events and we're glad we did, as again, the Maels did not disappoint us.

Both the gigs were nearly identical, with the big difference that the set up of the stage was not quite done in Norwich, Russell explaining that the truck with items did not get there in time. Also, the Norwich gig was more intimate as the audience was much smaller.

In Norwich, a tape was started with a single backing vocal, immediately recognisable to be of Propaganda and Russell then came on stage and, without further announcement did the short version of this song.
The lovely Tamera, Norwich, December 3

In London, a video was shown of Ron miming to some French voice, announcing the gig and stressed us to behave properly. No smoking of any kind was permitted and neither was affection in any form. This was, in fact, Russell's voice with the accent that should have been quite simple for him to do, speaking French so well.

The gig then also opened with Propaganda, almost immediately followed by an amazingly strong and power-ful version of Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat. To my re-collection, this is the first time ever that Sparks performed this song live.

The No. 1 Song In Heaven (Part 2) was then played, with no surprises. Personally, I prefer the complete version of the song.

The next one they played was Something For The Girl With Everything. It sounded quite a bit like they are used to play it live for the last couple of years, with the exception of the ending, which was more like the Plagiarism version with Faith No More. Nice.

Another Plagiarism version was that of Funny Face which, quite frankly, I do not think is an improvement. They should have stuck with the original, there was nothing wrong with it. The intimate atmosphere they probably tried to capture with this live version did not work.

The first track off Gratuitous Sax was I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car, which was done excellently. We all know it's one of Ron's favourite songs and it's one that you either love or hate. It took me a while to love it but now I do and the live version was as powerful as usual.

I never quite figured out why they did a remake of Beat The Clock on Plagiarism as it differs so little from the original version. To be honest, this song is one that I've heard a bit too often. I could have done without it. Most other people in the audience seemed to enjoy it though.

Another of Ron's favourite song was Popularity. There were no surprises with the live version of this song. Cheerful and up-tempo and well-sung, the latter actually accounting for almost every song Sparks performed during both gigs. It never ceases to amaze me how Russell still has a voice that has a power, reach and control that's even better than during the 70'ies or 80'ies, for that matter.

After that, Rex the Wonder dog made his appearance; "Hello Chicago!" he's screamed and asked whether we had a good time. Off went Rex and on came Let's Go Surfing, which was sung in the usual low pitch that Russell uses during live performances. If you get used to it, the voice is not all that bad but I get the feeling that also this lower voice might be a bit out of reach for Russell. Still; great song, great version.

What you can see right under here is the original set list that Derek Paice from England managed to grab from stage after the gig. As you can see, many of the key words have been replaced by the word "pie" and until now, I have no idea why that was done. If anyone out there has a clue, please let us know as we're quite curious.

The Norwich set list: courtesy of Derek Paice

When I'm With You was done the Plagiarism way, which means that it was done slightly more up tempo than the original. Still, I've heard this song a bit too often. Could have done without.

Again Rex the Wonder dog mimed to some American voice while being held in from of the microphone by Ron. After that, Russell announced "a new song that had never been heard anywhere else before" (except for Norwich).

It's A Knock Off is quite a nice melody and personally, I liked it instantly. The tempo reminded me a bit of Katherine Hepburn but the melody was much more catchy. It's not like She's An Anchorman which is much richer in instruments. Knock Off is, in short, a thin, modest but nevertheless very sophisticated and catchy tune. (sounds like I'm describing a wine here).

The new song went down well with the audience and was followed by Sparks' oldest song of the evening; the Do Ro Mi version that we've come to learn and love so well. Like everywhere else, Do Re Mi was a guarantee for dancing, jumping and screaming and Russell showed that he was still quite flexible. Good one, that.

When Do I Get To Sing My Way was another up tempo song that did not differ much from previous concerts. I've always thought this is excellent song and it's a real gem when played live. In London, where the whole scene was based on a so-called angry Russell, not liking the attention that Ron supposedly tried to get from the audience, Ron's shuffle was announced as: "and now, Mr. What's-his-face is gonna do his thing".

Personally, I could do without the shuffle by now. I recall seeing Ron do it the first time back in 1981 and if even a hernia operation did not stop him performing this (basically funny) dance, I doubt whether anything else will. Alas, the shuffle went into (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing and again this song was performed excellently. The audience really seemed to enjoy that one and rightly so!

This Town was done in a way that we are used to over the last few years. There were no surprises here. Obviously the song by itself is a classic but having been a fan of Sparks for 24 years already, I must have heard this tune more often than my boss announcing a raise. Still, how could I say anything bad about this one?

The No. 1 Song In Heaven (Part I) was the one to follow. Honestly, during the whole gig I was kind of hoping that one of the participants in Plagiarism would appear on stage as well and I wouldn't have minded if that had turned out to be young Jimmy. He never came. Still think that the song is much stronger as a whole. I did not see the need to split it into two individually weaker versions.

As they have done during most of the 90's gigs in Europe, The No. 1 Song went directly into Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth, thereby ruling out the possibility of having it sounded like on Plagiarism. Personally, I find the opening of this song on Plagiarism simply divine.

Amateur Hour was done well, without any surprises and Change seemed to be a shorter version. For me however, it was one of the highlights of the evening as there was an incredible serenity around this song. A perfect closing shot for a venue that proved once more that the Maels were capable of entertaining people half their age (well, some of you were!).

For the die-hard fans, the gig must have been one of mixed feelings but I'm quite positive that nearly everyone left the hall with an very satisfied feeling, proud that they were part of this extraordinary event.
Ron and Russell themselves must have been quite pleased as well.

As for new recruit Tamera, I must say that, during the first gig, she almost seemed to be out of place as she acted as she did not enjoy a mere minute of it. Whether this was caused by nerves or was simply an act directed by Ron and Russell, I'm not sure. After the Norwich gig, we had the chance to talk with her near the dressing rooms and there she seemed to be perfectly calm and quite pleasant so I suppose it was an feeble effort to behave like she wasn't part of the scene.

Ron in London, December 6th

In London, Ron and Russell apparently had much more time to get prepared for the gig. The stage seemed to be much more complete and they had prepared some video footage that showed them walking back to their dressing room.

Russell played the upset rock star that had to share the attention of the audience with another member of the band and did not like that.

Already during the gig, he had hissed to Ron a few times to "get back behind his instrument" when Ron was threatening to walk into the direction of the audience. The footage showed Russell shouting "Don't ever do that again!" to Ron in the dressing room and then beating him to the floor.

At the first encore, Ron came up with his shirt partly torn and with blood all over it. The audience loved it and so must have had Mr. Heinz.

The gigs were quite good indeed and so were both the audiences. The only drawback I can think of regarding the concerts, was the lack of co-operation the management again seemed to have to promote Sparks properly and by letting some of their fans, who have been involved in releasing a fanzine since 1975(!) have the opportunity to have a short interview with them.

Sparks are deeply underrated and under-appreciated but with the reluctant attitude towards some of the only people that have always supported them, even through their dark years, it sometime seems like they're not interested in getting big again. Maybe it's about time Sparks' management realises it could make use of the enthusiasm, knowledge and promotional possibilities of this organisation instead of opposing it structurally. After all, most of Sparks' success was always based on their European fans. A European fan club sounds so much logical, doesn't it?

Ruud.

Set list:
Propaganda / Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat / The No. 1 Song In Heaven (Part 2) / Something For The Girl With Everything / Funny Face / I Though I Told You To Wait In The Car / Beat The Clock / Popularity / Let's Go Surfing / When I'm With You / It's A Knock Off / Do Re Mi / Angst In My Pants / When Do I Get To Sing My Way / (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing / This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us / The No. 1 Song In Heaven (Part 1) / Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth / Amateur Hour / Change.